Tippecanoe County health officials say they'll start tracking trends that go beyond the state's measure of confirmed coronavirus cases to get a more realistic view of what the pandemic means for the community

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LAFAYETTE – With 38 confirmed coronavirus cases, Tippecanoe County's rate of 2 for every 10,000 trails a statewide rate that is more than four times as much, at 8.8 cases per 10,000 – something county health officials said Wednesday they’d take as good news.

“I think we’re all glad to see any bit of good news,” Dr. Jeremy Adler, Tippecanoe County health officer, said Wednesday. “Again, as testing capability increases, we expect to see more cases. … We just don’t know to what extent.”

To get a better handle on that, Adler said the county will start reporting the number of suspected cases in Tippecanoe County, in addition to the confirmed cases reported each morning by the Indiana State Health Department, as the county tries to drill home the importance of staying put, washing hands and avoiding close contact that could make a surge in cases bigger than it needs to be.

The effort, looking to track patients diagnosed by doctors but who haven’t met criteria for testing, would be unlike anything being done in other Indiana counties or by the state health department, Adler said.

“One of our suspicions for quite some time has been that there are more cases out there than we know about, because of the lack of tests, even though the testing capabilities are improving greatly,” Adler said in what was billed as the first of weekly updates during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We don’t know to what extent, though,” Adler said. “Does that mean there are dozens more people out there who have this in our community? Does it mean hundreds? Does it mean thousands? That’s what we’re trying to get a better idea of, by tracking the numbers of suspected COVID-19 diagnoses being made by health care providers.”

Adler said that of the 38 confirmed cases, 10 patients were hospitalized and two were on ventilators.

In a wide-ranging discussion about where the county stands as Indiana prepares for a surge in cases – expected to hit April 16, Adler said – and how well Greater Lafayette residents were abiding by stay-at-home restrictions, here were some of the key points.

Lafayette city worker tests positive

Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski confirmed that one of the county’s 38 cases was a city employee. He did not say what that employee did. But Roswarski called the fact that only one person, among so many city employees deemed essential, had tested positive was “remarkable.”

“When you consider the size of our police department, the size of our fire department, the fact that our sanitation department makes 25,000 stops in one week and what we’re doing to keep all those essential services running, I think that’s a pretty remarkable number,” Roswarski said.

Roswarski said several city employees isolated themselves after showing symptoms. But he said there were no other confirmed cases.

West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis said there were no cases for city workers on the other side of the Wabash River. County commissioner Tracy Brown said Sheriff Bob Goldsmith had been working to keep coronavirus from the jail population, saying that so far that had worked.

How many tests so far? And a warning

Adler said that the state ran 735 tests for Tippecanoe County residents, with another 1,231 tests done in Lafayette hospital labs. He said commercial labs were offering tests, as well, though that number wasn’t available.

Adler called the testing progress “lacking.” He said he expected that to change with drive-thru testing available now at Franciscan Health Lafayette East and other options.

Adler warned, though, about blood antibody tests being promoted by some services in Greater Lafayette. He said the test “has several limitations,” including the possibility of false positive and false negative results. He said the Tippecanoe County Health Department didn’t administer or endorse the test.

“We caution individuals about relying on this test,” Adler said. “Individuals who choose to have this test done should discuss their results with their health care provider to accurately interpret the results and advise them about their next steps.”

What are the trends for coronavirus cases?

Adler only would say that the 38 cases came from “different walks of life,” including a range of ages. He said the county has matched national statistics that show more cases in those over 65 and patients with pre-existing conditions.

Have any of those patients recovered?

Adler said the recovery period is around 14 days, based on cases nationwide.

“To the best of my knowledge, none of our confirmed cases in our county have recovered, yet,” Adler said. “We’re hoping some of our first cases are getting close to that. But this illness takes a long time to get over. It’s not a fast recovery, is what we’re discovering.”

The projected surge in Indiana

Adler said Greater Lafayette likely will line up with the projected surge in Indiana cases, which state health officials expect to peak April 16.

What that would look like – as in total number of cases – Adler said he wasn’t ready to predict.

He called it “vitally important” to follow Gov. Eric Holcomb’s stay-at-home orders, except for “essential activities and essential travel:” going to work, going to the grocery store, going to the pharmacy or doctor’s office and “traveling to take care of loved ones.” When out, he said, people needed to maintain six feet between each other, frequently washing hands and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces.

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of these measures,” he said. “These measures are our best weapons to prevent a large surge of COVID-19 cases here locally.”

Dr. James Bien, chief medical officer at IU Health Arnett, said the Lafayette hospital was “doing OK,” in terms of space, beds and ventilators. Dr. Dan Wickert, vice president of medical affairs with Franciscan Health Lafayette, said state officials told the Lafayette hospital to be prepared to use an additional 50 percent to 100 percent intensive care beds during a surge. He said the hospital had made space and continues to look for more.

“Waiting for the potential surge is what we’re trying to plan for at this point,” Wickert said.

Bien said the numbers continued to trend down in the emergency room. He said there was some concern that people who needed care – whether for signs of heart attacks or strokes or mothers going into labor – were waiting too long to go to the hospital.

“I want to send a message that the facilities are safe,” Bien said. “If you have an emergent medical concern, you need to go to the emergency room. And don’t be hesitant because of this pandemic to make that kind of decision.”

How is enforcement of stay-at-home orders?

Adler said that enforcement – “if you want to call it that” – has been limited to conversations with organizations and businesses. He said that in each case, events were canceled or modified.

In West Lafayette, Dennis said he instructed police to “strongly suggest” that gatherings break up.

“Each time,” Dennis said, “they complied. … The original presumption is that people might not be taking this seriously. But the great news … is that they are. The only way we’re going to get through this, basically in one piece, is if we all pay attention to the rules for the next two weeks.”

Roswarski said the city had to put tape around playgrounds and places people typically congregated at parks when posted notes didn’t do the trick. Both cities took down or locked up basketball rims.

“I know it’s very difficult when the sun is shining like it is today,” Roswarski said. “But those areas can very easily could be places where this virus could be spread.”

How about Easter and Holy Week services?

Holcomb’s order limits gatherings greater than 10 people, including at houses of worship. Adler said the county health department subscribed to that view. He said the health department was discouraging Easter egg hunts and other events. If churches insisted on drive-thru Easter services – “We’d prefer it to be online,” he said – Adler said the guidelines should be that no one gets out of a car, no distribution of communion and no passing collection plates.

As for recent promotions for drive-in Easter egg hunts, Adler said the health department considered those non-essential travel.

Finally, on a positive note

Roswarski said it was worth noting how the community was trying to get through a tough time.

“A huge thank you to the community,” Roswarski said. “There’s so many good things going on, where people are making masks, restaurants that are closed that are delivering food to the hospitals, the Community Foundation and the United Way working to raise money, what Food Finders is doing, the school corporations still getting meals to our students. There’s just an unbelievable amount of good will. The heart and soul of Greater Lafayette is alive and well, even though it’s a difficult time.”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.